How to Tick Off the Earl
by AJEmpress
Summary: A girl is launched on an adventure in the world of D. Gray-man to reflect her past... helping her look toward the future. NOT THAT I OWN NOTHING FROM D. GRAY-MAN! ONLY MY OC AND ALL DAT GOOD STUFF ALRIGHT?
1. Chapter 1

I remember crying. The circus was supposed to be a happy place, but not that day. "Mana, why does Red hate me?" I would ask.

"Red doesn't hate you, Marie," Mana would tell me. Red was always so mean to me. I was only two years older than him, but he was the only person that was still a kid. So far, the only person I trusted was Mana. I desperately wanted to be Red's friend, but he kept shutting me out.

"But he never talks to me and ignores me all the time!" I sobbed.

"Don't worry. Red had a hard past. He doesn't mean those things."

"Why does he have to take them out on me? What did I do?" I asked and then started crying harder. Mana patted my shoulder.

"I'll talk to him in the morning. For now, get some sleep, alright?" he promised. I nodded and walked to my tent. My eyes filled with tears, I put my head down on my pillow and drifted to sleep.

I was awoken by a shake on the shoulder. Red was standing over me, looking a little guilty. I sat up. "Red? What are you doing in my tent?" I asked.

He kept his eyes on the floor. "I just came to apologize. I shouldn't ignore you," he said grudgingly.

I smiled. "Thanks, Red."

He looked up at me. "Can I show you something?" he asked. I nodded. He took off one of his gloves to reveal a red hand with what looked like a cross embedded in it.

"Wow!" I exclaimed, amazed. "Who else knows about it?"

He put his glove back on. "Just you and Mana," he stated. "I can't trust the others."

"And you can trust me?"

He looked down at the floor again. "I guess."

I hugged him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I shouted. He blushed.

"Well, I better get back to Mana before he finds out I'm gone," he said and left me in my tent. I rested my head on my pillow, eyes filled with tears, once more.

Only this time, they were tears of joy.

From then on, we were friends. Then he and Mana, my only two friends, disappeared, leaving me at the mercy of the greedy circus acts. Of course, when I turned thirteen, I stole a cart and ran away. I became a traveling street performer and stayed that way for three years, all on my own. That was when everything changed.


	2. Chapter 2

I had just finished an act when I heard screaming coming from farther down the street. I ran to the source of the scream. "What's going-" My mouth hung open once I saw a giant monster with gun barrels in its body shooting down the people in the street. I will admit, I screamed a bit myself. It aimed one of its barrels at me. I ran as fast as I could, trying to get others out as well. "Get out of here! It's going to kill us!" I ran into someone and fell. Searing hot pain shot up my leg. It was broken, and the monster was gaining, fast. I tried to crawl away. It caught up with me easily and aimed its barrels at me again. I raised my hand defensively and turned away. _At least I saved others from getting shot down, _I thought. It fired a volley of bullets. I waited for the impact, the pain, and the death that would follow. But none of it came. I looked up in amazement to find my hand covered in red scale-like armor. I looked at the monster and smiled. "Oh, this is going to be fun," I said. It fired another bullet at me. I caught it and stared at the rocket-shaped bullet in my hands. My fingers were covered in the scales again. I threw it at the akuma. My fingers turned back to normal as soon as the bullet left my hands. It bounced harmlessly off of the akuma's side. Well, I tried. I needed a way to kill it. But what could I use? I looked around for something-anything that could kill this thing. I turned and saw three men in black coats running to the scene. I shouted at them. "What are you doing? Get out of here!"

One of them shouted back. "Are you an idiot? What do-" another one covered his mouth. While I was preoccupied, the monster took its chance. It fired a bullet aimed at my head. The scales took the bullet, but my head took the impact. I fell to the ground. Once the three finally arrived at the scene, one of them cradled my head while the other two fought the monster. I must have been hallucinating, because this boy looked just like Red with white hair and a scar on his eye. Him staring at me with concern in his eyes was the last thing I remembered before I fell into unconsciousness.


	3. Chapter 3

When I woke up, I saw an old man standing over me, holding acupuncture needles. I shuddered. I _hate_ needles. I looked around the room. The boy that seemed concerned about me in the fight with the monster was sitting in a chair, asleep. On the other side of the room, there were two men talking- no, shouting at each other. They were the ones that fought the monster.

"You slowed us down, retarded rabbit!" yelled the man with the katana.

"I'm sorry, Yu! Just calm down!" the red-haired boy exclaimed.

"How many times do I have to say it? Don't call me Yu!"

The man with the needles shouted at them. "Quiet, you two! The girl is awake now. She took a hard hit to the head and she doesn't need to hear you fight." He looked down at me and offered his hand. "Hello. Those two are Kanda and Lavi. The one asleep in the chair is Allen. You may call me Bookman."

I took the hand and sat up.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"You are at an inn not far from the street we found you," Bookman replied.

"What happened to my body when that thing attacked?"

Kanda spoke up. "That _thing_ was an akuma. Living machines that kill humans. The more an akuma kills, the stronger it gets."

"Oh."

Bookman answered my initial question. "Your body contains Innocence. Innocence is also known as an anti-akuma weapon. It has the power to kill akuma. Each Innocence has different abilities. Yours can harden your skin and make it unbreakable. That is all I can tell you at the moment. And your name is?"

I stood. "My name is Marie."

The boy sleeping in the chair suddenly jumped to his feet. "Marie?"

I stepped back. "Yeah. Do I know you?"

"It's me, from the circus?"

"Red? God, it is you!" I laughed. "What happened to your hair? And your eye? What happened?"

"Most people call me Allen now," he said. I haven't seen him in five years. But, of course, the dude with the ponytail had to go and be _that_ guy.

"You two know each other. Great. Bean Sprout can introduce us later. We need to get back to Headquarters.

Allen glared at Kanda. "It's _Allen_. My name isn't Bean Sprout. Or do you not have enough brain cells to remember?"

That boy Lavi pulled me away from the other two. He grinned. "I think you should get as far away from those two as possible if a fight breaks out. We wouldn't want to get caught in the crossfire."

I rolled my eyes. A flirt. How wonderful. I jerked my arm from his grasp. "I can take care of myself. We can spar if you don't believe me, Joker Boy."

He held up his hands in mock defeat. "I can believe that. It's Yu's sword I'm worried about."

"Well, if you will excuse me," I said as I walked to the two arguing boys. If I have unbreakable skin, then this should be easy. I grabbed them both by the hair and threw them to their knees.

"Amateurs, the both of you!" I shouted. "You two are fighting like a couple of toddlers. Grow up, will you?"

I let go of their hair and they hit the floor. "If you want to fight, fight fist-to-fist like men."

I mumbled under my breath, "Why do boys insist on being total idiots?" as I walked out to get some air.

I stepped outside on a small balcony overlooking the town. I leaned on the rail, deep in thought. After a while, I turned around to go back inside only to run into that flirt, Lavi. He winked at me. "You okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine. Can I help you or did you just come to flirt?"

He shrugged and moved aside. I walked back into the room and sat in a chair. Of course, Bookman decided that we had to leave as soon as I sat down. I quietly moaned to myself and walked to the group that was gathering in the middle of the room. I realized something. "Can I go get my trunk from my cart? It won't take long."

Bookman pondered this. "Fine, but take Lavi with you. There may be more akuma around and you don't know how to use your innocence yet."

I clenched my teeth. "Okay."

Lavi offered his arm. "Shall we go?"

I rolled my eyes and trudged out the door.

Once we reached my cart, I climbed in the back. I grabbed my journal and stuffed it into my trunk with the rest of my clothes. I stepped of my cart.

Lavi was waiting. "Is that everything?" he asked.

"Everything I need," I replied. "Let's get back to the inn before-"

I spotted an akuma coming toward us. "Lavi… not to alarm you or anything, but turn around."

He turned. He grabbed a tiny hammer from his belt. The hammer somehow grew and smashed the akuma to bits. Suddenly, we were surrounded by dozens of akuma. Lavi swung his hammer. I raised my hand defensively. "Go hide!" he shouted at me.

I held my ground. "And do what? I'm not just going to let you-"

"You can't fight. You don't have an effective weapon. Just do as I say or you'll get hurt!" he shouted. A bullet whizzed past my ear. I decided to do what he said and hid behind the trash bins in an alley. I watched silently as he took down each akuma.

"Are you still alive?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied.

"Then let's go," I said and walked towards the inn. Lavi followed behind me.


	4. Chapter 4

[What? O-okay.] Hello. Allen here. Marie asked me to tell this part because she was asleep most of the time.

The train was nearing the Order. I went to go and find Marie. When I finally found her, she was fast asleep. I shook her. She didn't stir. I sighed, remembering the many struggles as a child to get this girl awake. I remembered the key. "Marie! There's a wasp in here!"

She snapped her eyes open and came up screaming. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for the nonexistent bug until she noticed my grin. She was still the same Marie I knew in many ways. She punched my shoulder.

"You're so mean!" she shouted, but she was grinning, too. She sat in her seat and started to laugh.

[Alright, you've had your turn.] Well, I'm back. I had to let Allen record that because, well, it was too funny to leave out. It was like having a little brother around. That was how I saw him, really. A little brother. I walked to the Order, and my jaw dropped. The place was _huge._ I was too busy trying process what I saw that I didn't notice that there was a girl about my age talking to our group. I blinked. "What?" Everyone laughed. I blushed and Allen began explaining.

"Lenalee here simply wanted me to show you around the Order."

"Oh. Okay," I stuttered. I was still marveling on how big the place was. All I've ever had was a small tent and a cart.

Allen showed me the training grounds, the Science Department, and the cafeteria. "I usually sit over there." He pointed to a small table.

Finally, he showed me to my room and let me gather my bearings. I sat on the bed and began to cry. I had been holding these in since I found Red. I needed to let them out. I bawled until I ran out of tears. "I should get some water before I pass out," I checked my clock. "It's about lunch time, anyway." I washed my face and left the room.


	5. Chapter 5

At the cafeteria, I ordered a glass of water and a plate of pizza. Well, about fifty of them. I would have ordered dessert, but I already had that covered.

I sat with Allen. "Alright, spill it," I said bluntly. He smiled.

"Nice to see you too." He told me about his life with General Cross after Mana died, and how he came to the Order. He began talking about recent missions when I heard shouting from the other end of the cafeteria. I glance over and find Kanda starting a fight with one of those people- finders, I think. "All you guys do is die," I heard him say. "You want to help? Help yourself and quit."

I stormed after Kanda. That didn't draw much attention. What did was when I shouldered him to the ground. I hate guys like this. They always put others down and refuse to see their own flaws. Hypocrites.

"What the hell?!" he asked. My face turned purple with rage.

"You know exactly what, you sorry little-" I felt a hand on my shoulder.

Lavi was trying to break it up. "Whoa, guys!" Calm down a-"

"You stay out of this!" Kanda and I shouted at the same time. Kanda, now back on his feet, drew his sword and swung at me. I grabbed the blade with my bare hands. I twisted it out of his hands, sending the sword flying. It landed in the wall, just a few inches short from the ceiling. I glared at him. I punched Kanda in the stomach and kicked him in the jaw.

He caught my foot. I brought my foot down, carrying Kanda along with it. Kanda on his knees, I brought my other foot over and wacked him in the face with my shoe.

Lavi stared at the scene, gaping. I shot him a glare. "What are you looking at?"

He stuttered out what I needed to know. "Uh, K-Komui wanted to s-see you."

I stormed out of the cafeteria, trudging toward the Science Department. Lavi and Allen followed.

Someone yelled after me. "What about his sword?"

I clenched my teeth. "He can get it himself!"


	6. Chapter 6

By the time I reached the Science Department, I had calmed down enough to be briefed on the mission. That is, until I found out who would be coming with me.

"You, Lavi and Kanda will be-"

What?! Why Kanda of all people?" I practically shouted. Komui blinked.

"You two can't stand each other already? That's a shame, but I'm sure you can be civil."

I sighed. "Fine," I muttered. I stood out of my chair. "Come on, Lavi. Let's go get that jerk." I trudged back to the cafeteria. Kanda had apparently gotten his sword down. He shot a glare my way as soon as I walked in. "Nice to see you, too," I mumbled.

"What do you want?" he growled.

"Komui had the bright idea of putting you, me, and Lavi on a mission together. Trust me, I am just as bummed about it as you are," I stated. Lavi swung his arms around our necks as if we were all friends. "Come on, you guys! This will be fun!"

Kanda growled at him. I rolled my eyes and removed his arm from my shoulders. I couldn't help a small smile, though. I left to my room to put on my exorcist uniform. Believe it or not, I was excited about my first mission. I ran back to the cafeteria. When I got there, Kanda and Lavi were gone. I turned to a finder. "Where did they go?" I asked.

"They are waiting at the station," he answered. I sighed and ran all the way to the station. Lavi and Kanda were hopping on the already moving train. I jumped into it just in time. I turned to the boys.

"You guys ditched me," I said in a voice that pulled out an apology and dragged in an explanation. It certainly worked on Lavi.

He rubbed his neck. "Yeah, sorry about that…but you see….YU MADE ME!"

I rolled my eyes. These guys act like children. Kanda just glared at Lavi and I raised my eyebrow.

"Kanda, is this true?"

He shrugged. "So what if it is? It's not like I need you getting in my way on this mission."

"Well that wasn't very nice," I muttered.

A few hours later, Kanda was asleep next to Lavi, who was reading a book. I grinned and pulled out a marker. This guy was up and willing to ditch me on my first mission. Say what you want, but this guy deserved it.


	7. Chapter 7

"Getting revenge, are we?" he said without looking up from his book. "Would you mind if I joined you? I do have a very high talent for pissing him off."

I shrugged as he retrieved a marker from his bag. Five minutes later, Kanda had all kinds of crazy graffiti on his face and his hair in a long braid. _What a hard sleeper!_ I thought.

The train pulled into the station. I gave Kanda a not-so-gentle shove. He snapped his eyes open. "What was that for?" he asked angrily. I stifled a laugh. I could not take him seriously with all of that graffiti on his face.

"The train stopped. We need to get going." I turned and saw Lavi trying so hard not to laugh he was turning purple. This made Kanda suspect. He felt his hair, and, sure enough, it was in a braid. Kanda started turning purple himself, but not with laughter. He glared daggers at Lavi. He went for his sword.

I jumped in between the twosome. "Come on, guys. We have a mission, remember? Let's get going!"

We walked through the roads of Athens, Greece while I read the mission out loud. "Mysterious phenomenon in Greece…Lightning at the Parthenon? Huh, it's every time someone comes to the temple. Guys? Do we- Guys?"

I look up to find the two gone…again. I groaned. I didn't care, really. They couldn't survive lightning, but I can. If they want to join me, by all means, let them get struck down. Funny, Kanda would die with graffiti on his face. Oh well.

At the temple, lightning blasted everywhere. None of it seemed to hit me. I got closer to the center. Though on an important mission, I couldn't help looking at the architecture in awe. I finally got to the Innocence.

In the very center of the building, there was a big, powerful, very important…marble slab. I stared at the empty room in confusion. "What?" I said to myself. "Where is it?"

"The Innocence? Oh, it's over here," said a voice that sent chills down my back. I turned. Standing behind me was a tall man with a top hat, which made him look even taller. He had dark, almost gray skin and an inhuman smile. At the sight of him, my right hand began to burn. No…it couldn't be. "Who are you?" I asked, fearing the answer. His grin just grew wider. I decided to play it cool. Maybe it'll confuse him and buy me some time to think of a plan. "You're with the Earl, undoubtedly. Are you an akuma?" I asked. Akuma aren't a problem.

"You insult me. I am anything but one of those repulsive creatures," he said pungently, walking closer to me. That was the answer I was afraid of. No wonder my hand was burning.

"So…I kina need that," I said, gesturing toward the Innocence. He was getting uncomfortably close now.

He smiled, brushing my face. "That's too bad. I'm afraid I can't let that happen." He thrust his hand at my stomach. When it made contact, his grin faded. It didn't even _remotely_ hurt.

I raised my eyebrow. "You don't lift very often, do you?"

He just stuttered. "W-What? How did that happen? What-" He stared at me in confusion and shock. "What _are_ you?"

I smiled. "I'm an exorcist." I punched him across the jaw and grabbed the innocence from his hands. To my surprise, the glowing orb transformed into a golden sword. _Finally_, I thought. _A weapon_. I charged.

I slashed with my new blade, each one an inch from this guy's face, which was already bruising from that punch. After realizing he was about to get his butt handed to him, he, of course, ran away.

"Road! A little help!" he shouted, and disappeared. I sighed. Well, at least I got the Innocence. And apparently I'm its accommodator. Is that even possible? Two Innocence shards and one accommodator? At least I can fight now. I begin my decent to the train station.


	8. Chapter 8

On the way down, I run into- you guessed it -Kanda and Lavi. They were staring at me in amazement. Lavi looked at the sword, then back at me, and then back at the sword again. Apparently, they had watched the whole thing go down. And didn't even try to help. "Where did you learn to sword-fight? And to punch like that? And did you just talk smack to a Noah? Man, you are one tough chic."

"Let's just get back to the Order," Kanda grumbled.

"WHAT?!" Komui shouted. "LENALEE HOW COULD YOU GET MARRIED AND NOT TELL YOUR PRECIOUS BROTHER WAS I EVEN GOING TO BE PART OF THE WEDDING?!"

"Whoa, calm down, Komui. Lenalee is still single," I said. "And now I know why."

"Oh. Marie, Kanda, Lavi. Did you get the Innocence?"

"Yeah, no thanks to those two," I said and gestured toward my 'teammates.' That was when Lavi had to brag on me…which made me uncomfortable.

"She was awesome! Tyki showed up and tried to kill her, but because her skin is Innocence, he couldn't! And then she kicked his butt! Sent him running! She was awesome."

I blushed. "Alright, that's enough. So, is it possible to be an accommodator of two Innocence shards?"

Komui pushed his glasses from the end of his nose. "It's very rare, but it is possible. We call people like you Double-accommodators. Now you all should get to bed. It's awfully late."

I nodded and walked back to my room. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell into a restful and well-deserved sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

I dreamed of the past, even before I joined the circus. Back when life was still happy.

"Slow down, Marie!" called my best friend in the world, Carsyn. I smiled.

"You speed up! This is a race, remember?"

"Okay, I give up," she said, stopping in her tracks. I stopped, too, and walked back to meet her.

"You okay?" I asked, panting.

"I'm fine. Let's get back to the house," she replied, also short of breath. We walked back to my home for the rest of the slumber party. We walked in just in time for my mom to tell us that it was time to go to bed. We both sighed at the same time and crawled into bed.

I was awoken by a shake on my shoulder. "Marie, wake up! There's a fire!" I heard my friend say. I saw red flames licking at the floor and suddenly I was wide awake.

"What happened?" I asked, startled.

"It doesn't matter! Let's just get out of here!" she said.

We ran through the house, looking for an exit. We found the door.

Carsyn turned to me. "Go, Marie!" she shouted.

"We go together. Now come on!" I said, pulling her arm.

"We won't both fit through that door! You go, and I'll follow, okay?" she assured. I nodded. I leaped to the door, over the flames. Once out, I turned to my friend.

"Come on!" I shouted to her. She nodded and leaped, but not before the ceiling collapsed in top of her.

She screamed, and I screamed. I dug through the rubble, ignoring the flames that burned my arms. I kept digging and digging, until I found a limp, gray hand. A hand of a dead five-year-old girl. I cried until I felt my mom's hand on my shoulder. She had apparently made it out of the fire, surrounded by firemen.


	10. Chapter 10

I woke with a start. I glanced at my clock, and it read seven o' clock. I crawled out of bed, still shaken up from my nightmare of the past. _It doesn't matter now,_ I told myself. _She's dead. There's nothing I can do about it._ I trudged down to the cafeteria. I sat with the giant mound of food which I guessed was Allen. I had my own mountain. I sat down, and my right hand began to burn again. I winced.

"Are you alright, Marie?" Allen poked out of his tower of food.

"Yeah, I just hurt my hand in a fight," I lied.

"Well, let me see," he said, grabbing my hand without my consent. I tried to pull away.

"It's nothing, really. Allen! Let go!"

He chuckled. "I don't think a curse is nothing, Marie."

"What?" I glanced at my hand. It matched the scar on Allen's eye. My scar had reappeared.

I sighed and finished my food in silence. After realizing that I wasn't going to explain anything, Allen did this as well. I stood and started toward my room. I ran into Lavi on the way out.

"Marie! I was looking for you. Komui has another mission. This time, he told us to take Allen with us instead of Kanda. But we got to go now!"

"We just got back!" I sighed. "What's the mission?"

"I'll explain on the way. Get your jacket. I'll get Allen."


End file.
